Great Britain: Bobbies in Trouble

When constabulary duty's to be done,
The policeman's lot is not a happy one.

 The Pirates of Penzance

To the U.S. tourist driving on the right but
wrong side of the road, or hopelessly demanding a drink at midnight,
the London police seem paragons of patience. Whether breaking up a
race riot or gingerly plucking anti-nuclear squatters from the
pavement, the brawny, pink-cheeked bobby almost never resorts to the
panicky brutality of the French flic or the officious zeal of the
German Polizist. Britain's police, armed only with a night stick, still
believe in pounding a beat. Its streets...